HISD proposes closing historic Ryan school

By Ericka Mellon |
May 3, 2012
| Updated: May 3, 2012 10:03pm

Ryan Middle School, a historic Third Ward campus whose enrollment has dropped to 265 students, would close at the end of this academic year under a proposal the Houston ISD board will consider next week.

Students from Ryan would be dispatched to other middle schools next year. District administrators pledged to work with the community to reopen the facility in fall 2013 as a school that is more attractive to parents and their children.

The campus, at 2610 Elgin south of downtown, has a special significance, as it once housed the beloved, historically black Yates High School.

Hopes were high for Ryan last year when Houston Independent School District Superintendent Terry Grier included the campus in his reform program, called Apollo, which included longer hours, intensive tutoring and a staff shake-up.

While test scores generally improved and Ryan maintained its "academically acceptable" state rating, the changes have not drawn more students - leaving the school hurting financially because HISD funds campuses based on enrollment.

HISD's chief middle school officer, Dallas Dance, said in a letter to parents that Ryan has not been able to afford counselors, social workers, a full-time nurse or elective classes such as music, even though the district has supplemented its budget over the last five years with an average of $438,000 annually.

Enrollment dwindles

About 570 students are zoned to Ryan, Dance said, but fewer than half attend, choosing to transfer to other schools. A decade ago, enrollment was 830.

"We've been very excited about the progress educationally that kids have made," Dance said. "But ethically and morally, I can't recommend the school stay open knowing that kids will not have access to essential services."

With HISD losing state funding and Ryan's enrollment declining, Dance said, he expected having to cut teachers and perhaps having to combine classes if Ryan remained open.

Donnetta Smith, who has daughters in the seventh and eighth grades at Ryan, said she is upset she will have to send her youngest to a new campus for her final year of middle school. Her seventh-grader already has had two different principals because the principal hired for the Apollo program left after a year.

Smith, whose husband attended Ryan, said she also was frustrated that the news of the planned closure came after HISD's formal period for applying to speciality magnet schools ended. Her youngest is in the gifted program at Ryan.

"I'm not a parent who likes to move children," she said. "I figure once you start somewhere, that's where you finish."

Students from Ryan would be rezoned to Attucks, Cullen, Dowling, Lanier and Pershing middle schools. They also may transfer to other schools with available space, and the district will hold a special choice fair, Dance said.

News posted on Twitter

Arva Howard, an active Third Ward mom who has a child at Yates High, said she wishes the closure would be put on hold to give the community and district officials time to discuss how to revive neighborhood schools.

"It's kind of a Catch-22," she said. "You try to make the best choice for your child, but your choice has an unintended consequence of killing your neighborhood school."

Maurice Duhon, a U.S. congressional candidate for the area, posted a message on Twitter on Thursday about the planned closure, saying he was worried the community was unaware.

"I don't believe the community is prepared to let go of such a school," he said in a phone interview. "And also I question the method of communication."